Hedgehogs Unleashed Saga Episode 5: A Wild Key Chase

"No way, Eggman is the reason the world broke apart?!" Maria asks, shocked.

"And not only did he drain the Chaos Emerald, but also caused you to go through a frightening transformation and Eve losing her chaos powers?" Cosmo asks, shocked.

"That's right," Tails says.

"How awful," Maria says

"Chao Chao," Jazz says.

"Are you going to be okay, Sonic?" Amy asks.

"I'll be fine, but you girls can't be out right now. Every time these Gaia monsters come out and make people act strange," Sonic says.

"Strange how?" Cosmo asks.

"Well, the last time we came somewhere, someone was acting very upset, and they didn't even want some ice cream, or chocolate," Chip says.

"Oh, and who are you?" Cosmo asks.

"This is Chip. He's going to be helping us," Sonic says.

"Yep," Chip says.

Eve turns her head and notices something going on in the distance away.

"And how come we haven't seen any of these monsters since we got here?" Amy wonders.

Eve points out, "Well, Amy, the monsters are over there, and this is the strange thing they're doing."

The group turns to see some of the citizens of Spagonia, including the Professor's assistant, have purple clouds emitting from them and are happily dancing in the streets.

Among them is a mobian fish of average height. She has violet skin, purple eyes with thick eyelashes, a white muzzle and a fairly rounded face. She has small round fins on the sides of her head and on her ankles, an esca on her forehead and a thin, long tail fin. She is wearing a sleeveless yellow blouse held together by a deep pink gem set in cyan, which opens to reveal her midriff, with cyan lining, over a black crop top and tight, black short shorts, along with a matching pair of yellow sleeves held together by thin cyan bands with matching cyan linings, a yellow hairband with a ribbon on the left side, a deep pink ring on her right index finger and a cyan ring with a pearl on her left middle finger. She also wears what looks like big circular white earrings on her head fins, green eyeshadow, and a pair of deep pink single-strap sandals along with matching leg straps.

The girl is not enjoying it, "Let me go! Stop it!"

The assistant giggles and laughs, "Ah ha ha ha! Come on, babe, let's dance the night away!"

The Mobian fish cries out, "Ack, heeelp!"

Everyone soon rushes over to get a closer look at the scene.

"Whoa, is there some kinda party going on?" Chip asks.

"No... Something's not right here," Sonic says.

"You are correct, sonic," A familiar voice says.

Everyone turns to see Professor Pickle.

"Professor Pickle," Tails says.

Then the professor brings out a camera, "Perhaps this would help."

"A camera?" Eve questions.

"Use it and see what happens," The professor says.

Chip then takes the camera and begins to take pictures of the group and 4 of those strange creatures emerge from the humans, who fall unconscious to the ground while the mobian fish twirls away in confusion.

As the monsters land, Sonic and Eve move in while Chip takes pictures.

"It's a carnival of creeps out there!" Chip says, taking pictures.

Amy then brings out her hammer, "They're going to need some help."

"Right!" Maria says.

Sonic, Eve, Amy, and Maria charge in for the attacks.

Sonic says, "Alright, each one, gram monster.

They begin to attack the strange creatures. Sonic uses his claws to slash, punch and kick one monster. Amy lets out a cry and slams her hammer at another.

Maria calls out, "Chaos Spear!" And fires her attack at the monster.

Eve then fires her green energy ball at the monster.

Soon enough, all the monsters disappeared.

Soon, everyone looks to see the citizens have regained consciousness once the monsters are gone. Even so, they revert back to their normal state.

Professor Pickle's assistant asks, "Wh-what was I just doing?"

Eve and Maria help the mobian fish girl up.

"Are you okay?" Eve asks.

"I'm… I'm okay, just a bit dizzy and overwhelmed," The girl says.

Soon, Professor Pickle walks over, "Ahh, that should calm things down a bit around here. Chalk another one up for you all."

"Thanks Professor," Eve says.

"And thanks for the camera, it got those monsters out of those people," Chip says.

"After studying the Gaia Manuscript, I was able to put this camera together, and now we can force the monsters out of any one they possessed," Professor Pickle says.

"That's why the people were acting strange, the monsters from the Dark Gaia are possessing people," Tails says.

"That doesn't sound good," The mobian fish girl says, worried.

"Hello Undina, I'm relieved to see you're okay," Professor Pickle says.

"Yes. thanks to them," Undina says, gesturing to Sonic, Eve, and the others.

"Udina?" Amy questions.

"Yes," The mobian fish, Undina says, and curtsey, "Princess Undina of Meropis. I've come to Spagonia University to do some studies and maybe also travel the world above."

"It's nice to meet you," Cosmo says.

Sonic says, "Professor, we found the first Gaia Temple and restored one of the Chaos Emeralds powers, and a piece of Mobius is put back into place.

"Well done," The professor says. We shall return to my lab and discuss where to go next."

Moments later, everyone is in the professor's lab, including Undina, who is quite eager to join them on their adventure.

"According to the manuscripts, there is a temple here in Spagonia," The professor says, "Who would have imagined one was hiding so close? The second location is in Holoska.

"Holoska? That's somewhere in the Northern Tundra," Eve says.

"Let's head over there since we know the place pretty well," Sonic says.

"Good luck guys," Amy says.

"Bye," Maria says.

"Bye Tails," Cosmo says.

"Chao Chao," Jazz says.

"Bye," Sonic, Eve, Chip, and Tails say before leaving the building and heading to the Tornado.

Time has passed…

It's a brand new day, and Tails has dropped the group off in Holoska. They soon stop at a village where the housing is actually igloo. Of course, Sonic, Eve, and Chip are dressed for the cold weather.

"Well, this must be the place," Sonic says.

"Brr. It's a good thing we decided to bring out snow gear," Eve says.

"Come on, Eve, we better get going and find that temple," Sonic says.

"Alright," Eve says.

She then turns her head to her backpack, "Doing okay in there?"

Chip sticks his head out, "I'm okay, but it's very cold outside," And ducks back in.

"Then let's move," Eve says.

And with that, Sonic and Eve head off to go find the Gaia Temple somewhere in this land. They speed across the snow area, and even pass some icicle caves, and speed around icy climaxes and hills. They soon begin sliding down an icy landscape.

Sonic feels the chill, "Even with our snow gear, it's really cold around here."

"I know the Northern Tundra can be cold, but it was never this cold," Eve says.

Ëither way, this is totally awesome," Sonic says and brings out his snowboard, "Good thing we brought these."

With that, the two throw their snowboards down and begin sliding down the icy snowy hill. They also begin performing tricks and jump up with some ramp areas.

"Alright!" Sonic cheers.

"Yeah!" Eve cheers.

Chip peeks out and cheers, "Whoo hoo!"

The two continue sliding until they reach the bottom, and jump over the icy water. They both pick up their boards and begin running along the water.

"This is fun!" Chip cries out in excitement.

"Glad you like it, but the fun isn't over!" Sonic says.

The group continues speeding across the icy land, and also races their way up and down across the icy plains. And soon enough, they scream in excitement as they slide down a very long and steep icy slide, and are sent flying in the air. And soon enough, they all land in the snow that their body prints are shown.

The three soon come out and cheer, "Woo hoo!"

"That was awesome!" Sonic says.

"I know!" Eve adds.

"Yeah. We were sliding like whoosh, and then we were all screaming, 'aaaaaaaah' in excitement, and then we ended up flying like birds, and slid down on the ice. It was amazing," Chip says, excited.

"Glad you enjoyed it," Sonic says.

Eve soon looks around and notices, "That's strange, we've been running for a while and haven't found the Gaia Temple."

"You're right. Maybe it's not around here," Sonic says.

Then walks around, "Maybe we just landed in the wrong area and…" But I noticed something, "Hey, look at this."

Eve and Chip walk over to where Sonic and and notices something sticking out from the ground. Sonix digs through the snow and manages to pull the object out. It looks like a key. The key looks ancient and it's a tan and brown color. It has a semi-circle guard that has a horn, and half an eye in the middle, and has a short hilt on one side, and half a head with teeth on the key.

"A key?" Chip questions.

"I found it over here," Sonic says.

"Hmm, I wonder if it's connected to the Gaia Temple," Eve wonders.

"Maybe," Sonic says.

"Well, it doesn't like like there's anywhere left we can go," Chip says.

"Let's head back to Professor Pickle. Maybe he can tell us about this key," Eve says.

Sometime later…

The group returns to Professor Pickle's lab to explain what they found.

"Well, you all are back, and quite soon," Professor Pickle says.

"Yes. The thing is, we didn't find the Gaia Temple, but we did manage to find this," Eve says and presents the key.

"Hmm, that's quite a key you have, but it appears that the other half is missing," Professor Pickle says.

"We were hoping to find out more about it," Sonic says.

"I'll see if I can get it analyzed. I wonder if it's connected to Gaia in some way," Professor Pickle says.

Then turns to the hedgehogs, "And also, I've managed to pinpoint another Gaia Temple's location. The manuscript suggests a temple lies somewhere in Chun-nan."

"Chun-nan, isn't that in Yurashia," Eve asks.

"And also where the Dragon Kingdoms are," Sonic adds.

"And fellow Freedom Fighters are," Amy says.

"Great. We can use the help we can get," Sonic says.

Amy then says, "I'll contact the Dragon Kingdom's Freedom Fighters and have them meet you there."

"Thanks Amy," Eve says.

"Come on guys, let's hurry," Sonic says.

With that, the gang leave the university and make their way to their next destination.

Time has passed, and now Sonic, Eve, Chip, and Tails have reached their destination. The group walks into the city of Chu-nan, and they see many different people wearing traditional asian-like clothes, and some normal clothes.

"This place looks really nice," Chip says.

"Yeah. Kind of remind me of the places we've already been around this continent," Sonic says.

"Hey Sonix, who are these Dragon Kingdom Freedom Fighters?" Chip asks.

"The Dragon Kingdom's Freedom Fighters, or also the Shijin Warriors, are our allies against Dr. Eggman and battle his forces from here," Eve says.

Then Tails says, "Among them are very good friends of ours."

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice calls out.

Everyone looks up and sees Dulcy, their old friend flying down with the rest of the Freedom Fighters, Monkey Khan, or Ken, Jian the Tiger, Bunker the Tortoise, and Cinder the Pheasant.

"Sonic! Eve!" Ken calls out.

"Hi everyone," Cinder happily says.

"Hey Ken!" Sonic calls out.

"Hi Dulcy!" Eve calls out.

Soon enough, the Freedom Fighter groups meet up.

"Glad you all are able to get here in a hurry," Bunker says.

"Things have been terrible since the planet split apart and these frightening monsters that show up at night," Cinder adds.

"Yes. Amy contacted us and explained the situation. I can't not believe Dr. Eggman would do something this malicious," Khan says.

"Yeah. Eggman really did it this time, and now the planet is broken apart," Sonic says.

"Not to mention the Emeralds, including the sword and myself have lost our Chaos Energy," Eve adds.

"And those awful monsters keep showing up at night, possessing anyone in sight," Chip adds.

"Hmm, who is this strange small creature?" Ken questions.

"Oh, this is Chip. He's a new friend. He also lost his memory so we're trying to help him," Eve adds.

"He sure is cute," Cinder says.

"Come on, we'll grab something to eat and then you can tell us more as to what's going on," Dulcey says.

Soon enough, everyone stops in a restaurant in the town, Sonic and Eve explain more details about the mess Eggman caused to the planet and how they need to find the Gaia Temples to not only restore power to the Chaos Emeralds, but to also restore the planet. And have to battle Eggman's goons and the monsters which are fragments of the Dark Gaia.

"Sounds like you all are on an important mission," Bunker says.

"Yes. Which is why we need to find the temples to help the Chaos Emeralds gain their power, and piece Mobius back together," Sonic says.

"It sounds very serious," Dulcy says.

"Which is why we're here to assist you. I might have an idea where the Gaia Temple is around here," Ken adds.

"Really?" Eve asks.

"Yes. The temple is a short distance away from here. However, legend has it, there's a guardian spirit that is supposed to be guarding the temple," Ken says.

"A spirit?" Tails asks.

"Yes. The Phoenix Spirit," Jian says.

"My mother told me about it when I was very little. It's supposed to be the protector of Chu-Nan, and it guards the temple," Dulcey says.

"Which is also the reason why Eggman's forces aren't able to get close to it," Bunker says.

"Either way, we need to get to the temple, restore the Chaos Emerald's power and fix the planet," Sonic says.

"Excuse me," A voice says.

The group turns to see an elderly woman, wearing a black and red chinese shirt, and dark pants.

"Hello. My name is Lin and I would like to welcome you to Chun-nan," The woman says.

"Oh um, thank you," Tails says

"I only regret that I am not able to give you all a proper welcome," The elderly woman, Lin says.

"Why? Did something happen?" Sonic asks.

"Well, you see, our village's precious treasure is missing," Lin says.

"Missing?" Dulcy asks.

"Yes. The village elder, Zonshen went to search for it and has not returned," Lin says.

"That's awful," Chip replies.

"We would go search for him, but monsters lurk outside the village," Lin says.

"Monsters, huh," Eve responds.

"Must be more of the Gaia monsters," Eve says.

Then Sonic says, "Don't worry, we'll find the elder."

"Y-you would do that?" Lin asks, feeling pleased.

"Of course," Sonix says.

Lin is happy to hear it, "Oh fortune has indeed smiled upon us!" She then calms herself, "Ooh, heavens, look at me, getting all misty-eyed! Please, you must head to the Entrance Stage and find the elder at once!"

"Just leave everything to us," Sonic says.

"By the way, what is this treasure you've mentioned?" Eve asks.

"Ah, yes, our treasure," Lin says, and explains, "It is a good luck charm, passed down for ages. We credit it with having kept our humble village safe from disaster. One day the planet split apart, though, it rolled away and got lost. Well, no matter. Please, you must try to find the elder!"

"We will," Sonic says.

"Where is this Entrance stage?" Ken asks.

Lin then points up the stairs, "Just up those stairs, and you'll see Wang. Tell him that Lin sent you."

"We will," Eve says.

The group then head up the stairs and soon meet up with a man with dark hair, and wearing a white shirt.

The man stands in front and says, "You can't come through here! Out of the question! Too dangerous!"

"Um, are you by any chance, Wang?" Tails says.

"Yes," Wang answers, "And again, you must not go through here. It's too dangerous. You cannot pass without Lin's permission!"

"But we have permission from her," Ken says.

"Really?" Wang asks.

"Yes. She told us about the elder, Zonshen, who disappeared while trying to find the village's treasure and agreed to help," Eve says.

"Really? M-My apologizes!" Wang says.

"That's okay," Chip says.

"Well, if you're looking for the Entrance Stage it's through here. You can't miss it," Wang says, "Please find the elder. We're counting on you."

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Sonic says.

And with that, the gang walk through the entrance and make their way out of the gate.

Meanwhile, in an Eggman Base, one of the Lynx Ninjas of the Raiju clan approaches their leader, Conquering Storm.

"The Freedom Fighters have been seen in the Chun-nan Village, master. They've been joined by the Monkey Khan's team," The nina says.

Conquering Storm says, "They must be coming for the Gaia Temple…" then smirks, "Excellent. Let them pass, just like the old man this morning to find his village's treasure. We'll let the corrupted spirit destroy them all."

At the Gaia Temple, there is a frightening bird, which is the Phoenix Spirit, but something is wrong.

The Dark Gaia Phoenix stands out as a very large creature, about ten to twelve meters tall. While he mostly resembles a phoenix, he also possesses some peacock-like traits such as a long, slender neck and long eye-spotted feathers as its tail feathers and on his abdomen and head. In his natural form, he has a beautiful multi-colored glowing plumage, complete with a golden torso, neck and tail, violet wings with a golden edge, and a green and red head with violet eyes.

It lets out a loud, "SKREEEEEEEE!" In pure rage.

It appears to look corrupted.